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Young veterans call for better support

Young veterans are frustrated and angry at the Government over the lack of support they receive after their service and the time it takes to process their claims for compensation.

Transcript

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ELEANOR HALL: Some of Australia's war veterans have been venting their frustration with the Federal Government over what they say is a lack of support.

Even though the Federal Government has attempted to legislate on the issue, veterans say it takes too long to process their claims for compensation and that the process doesn't address the changing needs of newly returned soldiers.

Jenni Henderson prepared this story, and a warning, you may find some of elements of her report disturbing.

JAMIE STRAIT: When everything really started to fall apart and my behaviour, moods, emotions, became out of control, started to use drugs, alcohol, quite a lot...

JENNI HENDERSON: Jamie Strait is a veteran of the war in Iraq. When I caught up with him, he was speaking at a forum for young veterans at an RSL club in Morwell, Victoria.

He organised the forum because he wanted to give veterans like himself the chance to tell their stories and raise their concerns with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jamie Strait says one of the biggest issues for recently returned veterans is the time it takes to get their claims for compensation processed by the department.

JAMIE STRAIT: The way I see it, there's the army, you leave the army. From there to when you start your DVA there's nothing, there's absolutely nothing. Like, you're not important to anyone 'cause you're not classified.

JENNI HENDERSON: Jamie Strait was discharged because of sleepwalking. Later, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with various other mental illnesses.

His claim to the Department of Veterans Affairs, or DVA, took more than two years to be processed.

JAMIE STRAIT: You go from the best of help, to no help. Like doctors, you have to rely on public health system; like, I couldn't work, so I had to go through Centrelink, and it's just demeaning, really. You talk to a lot of people and they just get the shits with it. It's horrible, it really is horrible because I can't work because of what I've done for them.

JENNI HENDERSON: Compensation for members of the Australian Defence Force is governed by three pieces of legislation, as lawyer Peter Liefman explains

PETER LIEFMAN: The biggest legislation began after World War I, and what they've done is they've tried to add layers to it ever since for every war, and then they've added layers to it to do with peacetime service - and so the end result is a very complex piece of legislation.

Lawyers struggle with it, the Federal Court struggles with it and some of the legislative responses to do with ways that have been invented to deal with the legislation's complexity have in fact added further complication.

JENNI HENDERSON: Peter Leifman is also the past president of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia and advises veterans in their cases of compensation.

PETER LIEFMAN: If you're the poor veteran or service person who's put a claim in, what chance have you got of understanding a hundred years of complexity?

JENNI HENDERSON: The Department of Veterans Affairs has introduced a new pilot program to try to fast track certain claims where veterans are showing mental distress or hardship. Over the past year, three veterans have reported suffering suicidal thoughts during this process.

The Victorian Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs is John Geary.

JOHN GEARY: I think what I'm hearing is we need to do a bit more work around people and how they feel as they go through the process for compensation, and I think it's more understanding and empathy from us as a department.

JENNI HENDERSON: He says as a new generation of veterans return from war, the Department is still trying to figure out how to best meet their new and different needs. However he says the legislation ensures the Department will not change the way it processes claims.

JOHN GEARY: In the short term I don't think there will be any changes there. It is legislation and we need to be accountable to Parliament - to audit for instance that we are actually paying the right person the correct entitlement.

JENNI HENDERSON: The Government amended some of the legislation last year, but it seems for young veterans the changes aren't helping.

Peter Liefman again.

PETER LIEFMAN: So this new act is attempting to bring it all under one umbrella, and I think personally that it's still got some time to run before they iron out some of their wrinkles. Legislation of that sort is pretty difficult to unpack.

JENNI HENDERSON: What does this mean for veterans who are returning now from Iraq and Afghanistan?

PETER LIEFMAN: They've got one foot in each camp. They've got a foot in the camp that's been around for a hundred years and at the same time they're on a journey with the Government about how best to deal with them.

ELEANOR HALL: Peter Leifman, the past president of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, ending Jenni Henderson's report. And if you need help with mental health issues, Lifeline's number is 13 11 14.